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Need some help please ($1500 to $2000 Build)

A

Aztek87

Junior Member
I have been out of the PC gaming scene for a year now and i have saved enough money to get back into it, when i stopped these were my system specs:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4 socket AM2+/AM2
Processor: AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8Ghz Tri-Core
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS2 / Dual-Channel / DDR2 800
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 470 1.2GB
Monitor: 23" Acer H233H 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
SoundCard: SB X-Fi Titanium Pro Series
Speakers: Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

I sold this computer due to money issues and i have been relying on my iPhone for all my "Computer" needs and my PS3 just doesn't cut it for gaming.

I don't even know which are the best processors these days for gaming or if today its better to go with AMD or Nvidia GPU's.

So what do you guys recommend? I'm no brand fanboy, I'm just looking for a solid 1920x1080 gaming PC that will last me a few years, Thanks.

Budget is $1500 to $2000, the cheaper the better 🙂
 
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Your CPU is holding you back a tiny bit. The GTX 470 is a monster you can get that again.

Lets try to unlock that core on the triple core and OC

So new build, Stick with that same motherboard, same video card 470 you can play all games at 1080p high settings AA 4x AF16 high quality. No noticable difference with 470 and a 5x series ,,,

But ya your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU,, You need to unlock that 4th core and we have to OC to like 3.8Ghz with the core open now your not bottlenecked anymore.

You can put 8GB RAM btw everything else make it a mirror image of when you sold it.

You dont have to buy a new CPU , just need to unlock it and OC it into 3.6Ghz and above, that will take care of your bottleneck and youll get all out of your 470 ..

This wont happen unless you OC the CPU and unlock core. Other then that your gonna lose a lot of FPS due to CPU ... I want to tell you to get a new CPU but what you have is fine. gl let me know
 
tweakboy said:
Your CPU is holding you back a tiny bit. The GTX 470 is a monster you can get that again.

Lets try to unlock that core on the triple core and OC

So new build, Stick with that same motherboard, same video card 470 you can play all games at 1080p high settings AA 4x AF16 high quality. No noticable difference with 470 and a 5x series ,,,

But ya your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU,, You need to unlock that 4th core and we have to OC to like 3.8Ghz with the core open now your not bottlenecked anymore.

You can put 8GB RAM btw everything else make it a mirror image of when you sold it.

You dont have to buy a new CPU , just need to unlock it and OC it into 3.6Ghz and above, that will take care of your bottleneck and youll get all out of your 470 ..

This wont happen unless you OC the CPU and unlock core. Other then that your gonna lose a lot of FPS due to CPU ... I want to tell you to get a new CPU but what you have is fine. gl let me know
Click to expand...

You didn't read his post... he sold that computer.

OP, you can likely safe some of that money as you won't need anywhere near a $2000 computer to do what you want.

Z68, I52500k, 6870 or 570TI, 8GB of 1.5v RAM, drives, case, etc. Should all come in around 700-800. Throw in a monitor other peripherals, and you'll be sitting pretty.
 
mvbighead good job.
mfffmagic good post

Ya maybe I thought he wants budget, If not then note mvbighad and get that hardware he wrote down. Correct.. no more then 600 to 800 dollars your looking at for a recent powerful system and play all with 4xAA and 16AF high quality 1080p , enjoy the process. You good at building I hope.
 
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mvbighead said:
1500 to 2000 is what he suggests... my guess is anything under that would be gravy, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...
Oops, I was looking in his post for the budget, didn't notice it was in the title.

Anyways, there are plenty of threads on similar builds:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2181365
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2181391&p=32055307
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2179889

Pick some parts, and we can fine tune your build, OP.
 
mvbighead said:
You didn't read his post... he sold that computer.

OP, you can likely safe some of that money as you won't need anywhere near a $2000 computer to do what you want.

Z68, I52500k, 6870 or 570TI, 8GB of 1.5v RAM, drives, case, etc. Should all come in around 700-800. Throw in a monitor other peripherals, and you'll be sitting pretty.
Click to expand...

Yes but what motherboard exactly would you recommend? Those are my main questions which brands are the most reliable these days? What gives you more bang for your buck right now, AMD or Intel? I have no problem building a PC i have been doing it since 1999(what a great year btw) i have been trying to catch up by reading but things have changed quite a bit.
 
Okay here is a lower end of your budget (1,500) if you need monitor or anything else just throw it in to get up to 2k. (nice headphones or speakers or w/e)

CD/DVD
Case
HDD
2xGPU
PSU
RAM
OS
SSD
CPU/Motherboard

HSF


Total: $1477.34

Note on the PSU:
Could I have gone cheaper? Yes, however i really wanted to get the 2 x 6-Pin, 2 x 6+2-Pin PCIE power connectors in for room to grow and so you dont have to use an adapter.

If you want i COULD spec you out a full 2k build however it will be a bit of a waste really.
 
mnewsham said:
Okay here is a lower end of your budget (1,500) if you need monitor or anything else just throw it in to get up to 2k. (nice headphones or speakers or w/e)

CD/DVD
Case
HDD
2xGPU
PSU
RAM
OS
SSD
CPU/Motherboard

HSF


Total: $1477.34

Note on the PSU:
Could I have gone cheaper? Yes, however i really wanted to get the 2 x 6-Pin, 2 x 6+2-Pin PCIE power connectors in for room to grow and so you dont have to use an adapter.

If you want i COULD spec you out a full 2k build however it will be a bit of a waste really.
Click to expand...


told you, sli or crossfire 😀
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, and thanks mnewsham for the build (I am seriously considering it). I just wanted to show you guys 2 builds i did and let me know what you think about them.

1st Build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112239 - LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128515 - GIGABYTE GA-A75-UD4H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130684 -
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009 - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103942 - AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136794 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126087 - Logitech G110 Black USB Wired LED Backlighting Gaming Keyboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236103 - ASUS VE278Q Black 27" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104261 - Logitech G9x Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204 - ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102033 - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD Sound Card

This is the first one and i just want to get some opinions, I put it together in about 10mins but just to give you guys an idea of what I'm kinda looking for.

I don't really know how good that cpu is i just went with the newest stuff haha.

Thanks everyone for your time, ill post my intel i7 build in a few hours.
 
Aztek87 said:
Thanks for the replies everyone, and thanks mnewsham for the build (I am seriously considering it). I just wanted to show you guys 2 builds i did and let me know what you think about them.

1st Build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112239 - LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128515 - GIGABYTE GA-A75-UD4H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130684 -
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009 - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103942 - AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136794 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126087 - Logitech G110 Black USB Wired LED Backlighting Gaming Keyboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236103 - ASUS VE278Q Black 27" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104261 - Logitech G9x Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204 - ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102033 - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD Sound Card

This is the first one and i just want to get some opinions, I put it together in about 10mins but just to give you guys an idea of what I'm kinda looking for.

I don't really know how good that cpu is i just went with the newest stuff haha.

Thanks everyone for your time, ill post my intel i7 build in a few hours.
Click to expand...

What will this be used for?
 
mnewsham said:
What will this be used for?
Click to expand...

Assuming the same purpose as stated in the OP, gaming.

OP, the build you posted is much worse than mnewsham's. The main problems are:
- Llano is a Phenom II with an entry-level graphics card bolted on to it. That is great for a lot of builds, but a high-end gaming rig ain't one of them. The Llano IGP is useless in a gaming rig and the i5 2500K is much faster on the CPU side of things.
- GTX 570s are $50 more than 6950 2GBs but aren't much faster.
- 850W is huge overkill for a single-GPU (or even most dual-GPU) rigs.
- Cavar Blacks are more expensive per GB and the the same speed as the Samsung F3
- Internal sound cards are rarely worth it. If you have speakers or headphones that need good amps, you're better off with an external one
 
mfenn said:
Assuming the same purpose as stated in the OP, gaming.

OP, the build you posted is much worse than mnewsham's. The main problems are:
- Llano is a Phenom II with an entry-level graphics card bolted on to it. That is great for a lot of builds, but a high-end gaming rig ain't one of them. The Llano IGP is useless in a gaming rig and the i5 2500K is much faster on the CPU side of things.
- GTX 570s are $50 more than 6950 2GBs but aren't much faster.
- 850W is huge overkill for a single-GPU (or even most dual-GPU) rigs.
- Cavar Blacks are more expensive per GB and the the same speed as the Samsung F3
- Internal sound cards are rarely worth it. If you have speakers or headphones that need good amps, you're better off with an external one
Click to expand...

Ok what is a good i5/i7 sandy bridge motherboard? and the reason i picked 850w is the have some room if i want to SLI/Crossfire later or so that i won't have to upgrade the PSU in the future.(this is a long term PC remember) I like the X-fi series because i really notice a difference between them and the integrated sound on motherboards.
 
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Aztek87 said:
Ok what is a good i5/i7 sandy bridge motherboard? and the reason i picked 850w is the have some room if i want to SLI/Crossfire later or so that i won't have to upgrade the PSU in the future.(this is a long term PC remember) I like the X-fi series because i really notice a difference between them and the integrated sound on motherboards.
Click to expand...

As I've seen on this board, most people will tell you that about 99% of people don't bother with SLi/Crossfire later because:

a) it's not worth the hassle
b) it's not worth the $$$
c) if this is a long-term PC and you upgrade it later; there will be a newer, more powerful single GPU card available that is cheaper

850w is complete overkill; you can save the bucks by going to a lower wattage PSU into something else.
 
sigmanova said:
As I've seen on this board, most people will tell you that about 99% of people don't bother with SLi/Crossfire later because:

a) it's not worth the hassle
b) it's not worth the $$$
c) if this is a long-term PC and you upgrade it later; there will be a newer, more powerful single GPU card available that is cheaper

850w is complete overkill; you can save the bucks by going to a lower wattage PSU into something else.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for the advice, so what PSU wattage would you guys recommend?
 
mnewsham said:
Anything wrong with my build?



It is better then the AMD build you posted by quite a bit.
Click to expand...

No there is nothing wrong with it, I just couldn't see the motherboard/CPU link because it said combo deal is no longer available.

But it's looking good.
 
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